The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magicby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 10 Six stories inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales, full of betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love ... and often in unexpected ways. There is a build through the book of intensity as well as length. The first four stories are relatively quick reads, and the last two take some time."Ayama and the Thorn Wood" has a bit of the tale of the Minotaur and a little "Beauty and the Beast" ... but it's also not quite either of those. It is also a story of storytelling, like "Arabian Nights". And it involves completing tasks for the king that become increasingly dangerous. It's a good mixed-bag story to open this book with. I love the ending, which is a twist we've seen in another fairy tale story people will know, but it's not a traditional happy ending here. "The Too-Clever Fox" is an animal-centric fairy tale similar to others you will have read. The climax is horrific (sadistic or tortuous even), but it fits perfectly. I like how cleverness is shown to be outsmarted, humans are the tricksters, and friendship is the strongest power of all. "The Witch of Duva" is a twist on "Hansel and Gretel" where the villain is not who we thought. The author's notes at the end of this book shed light on why she took this approach in particular, and it makes perfect sense. I love how the witch is presented in a positive light, even though she's still taboo to people at large despite helping them when they come to her. The "candy house" is so much better in this version, too. The twist is revealed in a rather gruesome way, but I also like that these stories don't shy away from the gruesome and terrible aspects of fairy tales. "Little Knife" is a bit like the animal story, where here a river helps a poor man complete tasks to compete with a prince for a princess's hand. The man's abuse of their friendship, including his lack of thanks or acknowledgement of help, comes back to bite him. No gender is given to the river spirit, but it reads as female to me, making the ending more enjoyable. "The Solder Prince" is the second to last. When I reached it, I took a break from the book. It's a retelling of The Nutcracker, which is not a favorite story of mine. I was a little frustrated that it was so obviously this story, and not seemingly as original as the others. However, I am pleased to report that I was wrong. Totally wrong. I was not prepared for the twists that this story held. Yes, twists plural. It shocked me in a good way. This bit of shock served as a good transition to the final story, which is easily the most powerful and unexpected in the book. The end left me amazed. "When Water Sang Fire" is a tragic backstory for a character we know well, but it's not who you think. In fact, I didn't realize what story it was until the end because of the slight change in setting (and thus the vocabulary used to name the mermaids) to a place that will be familiar to those who have read other works set in the Grishaverse. My mouth was hanging open by the end; what a way to end the book. On top of the stories, which are amazing and wonderful and totally worth buying this book to read on their own, the stories are illustrated in a unique way that really cranks this book up to an 11 out of 10. The illustrations by Sara Kipin are simple and beautiful. They are placed in the margins, and as such, they avoid interrupting the flow of the reading. But wait, it gets better. The illustrations start small -- a shell, a fox, a flower, a bow, usually in a corner. Every page or two something is added -- a bit of cloud, a piece of bookshelf with things on it, another animal -- sometimes next to the original piece and sometimes starting an opposing illustration on the opposite page. That means the illustrations grow and change along with the characters and story, and at the end of each story, there's a large two-page illustration as a finale. The images are colored in subdued red or blue shades with black lines for the first four, with only the final illustration combining them. "The Soldier Prince" is mostly red, with the Nutcracker being blue. "When Water Sang Fire" starts off mostly blue, with one character having red hair. It changes to shades of red when the setting changes from water to land, and circles back to a dark blue-black covering the red in storm clouds by the end. Amazing, astounding, magical -- these words only begin to touch on how wonderful this art is and how it adds something special to this book and these stories. The hardback book has a lovely textured book cover with fabric cover with indented golden embellishments. All in all, a gorgeous book, as well as one I will enjoy reading again. Written: November 12, 2017
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